When We Were Lovers
by MegaNerdAlert
Summary: Minerva and Hermione discover that they are each a reincarnated Founder, and that those two founders had been deeply in love. Now what? MM/HG Past MM/AD


**Well this was going to be a oneshot, but I got 2400 words in and realized I was no where near a conclusion of any sort, and that where I'd ended was a good place to end a chapter. That said, I have no idea where this is going. The premise of this fic came from a less than sober moment of mine last evening. Enjoy!**

* * *

Hermione Granger stood stock still, staring at The Grey Lady, Helena Ravenclaw, floating about an abandoned hall ahead of her. Harry had, of course, told her about his encounter with the Ravenclaw ghost ten years prior, at the end of the war, this was the first time she'd personally seen the spectral woman herself. She was only three weeks into her new job as Transfiguration Professor at Hogwarts, and this was the first chance she'd had to do some exploring. As a student here, she'd gotten to know much of the school, but as a Professor she had access to many places that as a student, she would never have been able to even see, let alone explore.

She was so lost in her thoughts, that Hermione didn't notice that the Grey Lady was now watching her. When it came to her attention, and thier eyes met, Helena frowned, moving forward quickly. "Professor Granger, are you not?"

"Yes," Hermione replied. "And you are Helena Ravenclaw."

"You are...different," Helena said slowly. "Your magical signature is identical to…"

Hermione looked curiously at the ghost in front of her. "Identical to what?"

"Rather, whom," Helena offered. "But I shall say nothing else on the subject, for now. I must speak to Godric."

"As in Gryffindor?"

"Yes," came confirmation.

"How?" Hermione wanted to know.

"His essence exists within the walls of the Castle," Helena answered.

"Where? How?"

The notion of a portrait of Godric Gryffindor excited Hermione beyond anything she had ever felt. To be about to speak with him would be…incredible. Perhaps she meant he was a ghost - that would be even more splendid.

"Where his last descendent is," Helena replied evasively.

That stumped Hermione. "I never knew he married, or had children."

"Godric and his wife were soul mates; tied to each other through magic, life, and even death," Helena said smoothly. "They had two children, a daughter, and then a son, later. The daughter died young, killed by a jealous lover, and the son only survived long enough to impregnate a muggle to whom he was betrothed. Their child fathered a great house of children, though now, only one remains."

"Why must you be so cryptic?" Hermione asked, knowing that the information Helena had given her would involve hours of research, at least, to understand.

"I must go speak to Godric," came the easy reply. "The essence of his wife has returned."

Before Hermione could inquire further, Helena floated away, through a wall so following was not an option. "Bugger," Hermione huffed. "Off to the library then, I suppose."

She knew she would go batty if she didn't make a solid attempt to trace the line of Godric Gryffindor before classes began again tomorrow morning. Besides, how many many wizarding families could be traced by to the founding of Hogwarts, and only had one member still living?

* * *

Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts, rubbed her temples and then sat back in her chair. The budget meeting tomorrow was turning out to be a nightmare coming with all the funds each department was asking for this term.

"Headmistress," called an airy voice.

Minerva looked up to see Helena Ravenclaw floating a few feet in front of her. "Good evening, Helena," she replied. Memories of a dark haired girl playing in a field flooded to the front of her mind as the ghost of Ravenclaw offered a rare smile.

"I wish to speak with Father," Helena stated softly.

"Very well," Minerva replied, giving Helena the full attention of a parent. She'd been only fifteen when she'd realized that was who she was to the Ravenclaw ghost. Such was the role of a host of a reincarnated soul.

"Why did you not tell me that Mother had returned?" came the startling question.

"Possibly because I had no knowledge of it," Minerva replied. "Are you saying that you've encountered a host of Rowena's soul? Here, at Hogwarts?"

"She has been here before, but has returned again. I knew her name, but not her face," Helena replied.

Why on earth Helena and her mother felt the need to talk in riddles, Minerva would never bloody had no idea either, according to the memories of his that resided in her mind. _Fine, then,_ Minerva thought, putting her mind to the task of undoing the riddle.

_She has been here before, but has returned again…_

"Someone who has been in the castle before, a student probably, who has just returned…" she muttered.

_I knew her name, but not her face…_

"Not a Ravenclaw… maybe not even a student …." Minerva continued to puzzle out. "New Professor? Only new one this term is…"

Minerva's eyes went wide.

"You know that the draw…" Helena started to say.

"NO BLOODY WAY!" Minerva shouted.

"She'll fall in love with you," a ghostly, cold voice said.

"She's decades my junior!"

"It doesn't matter," Helena insisted. "The soul of Rowena lived in the house of Godric for eight years. Now that she is grown and come again, it can only be for the purpose of reuniting the lines."

"How would I even approach her about it?" Minerva asked, exasperated. And she thought the budget meeting prep work was giving her a headache…

"She will come to you. You must simply be ready."

* * *

"A muggle is found dead in the middle of the desert," a voice said from behind Hermione. "Beside him is a package. Had he opened the package, he would not have died. What was in the package?"

Hermione turned to face the Grey Lady, mind already working out the riddle. She automatically dismissed the notion of food or water - that was too easy for a mind such as Helena's. It surprised Hermione that Helena would present a decidedly muggle riddle, but given that she was muggle born, she thought about her roots and then offered a possible answer. "A Parachute."

"Very good, Mother," Helena said softly. "You never were any good with muggle riddles - it seems being reincarnated as a muggleborn witch has done you some good."

Before the utter confusion of how Helena had just addressed her even had a chance to set in, Hermione was overwhelmed by an onslaught of memories, causing her to drop to her knees, cradling her head in her hands.

_A handsome man on bended knee, proposing. _

_Being handed a dark haired baby, wrapped in a pink blanket. _

_Presenting a baby boy to a dark haired girl about six._

_Standing with the proposing man, watching two children play in a field. _

_Walking into the atrium of a lavish Manor, arguing with a young man._

_Helena Ravenclaw's funeral…_

"Oh god," Hermione sobbed, the memories and the emotion that went with them overwhelming her. "Please stop…"

The memories seized at once, and after a few deep breaths, Hermione stood and looked at Helena, questions dancing in her eyes.

"You carry the soul of my mother, Rowena Ravenclaw. Her memories are yours now, for I have safeguarded them all these years, so that she might live again with my father, who arranged for his own soul to carry on, reborn in body, and memories carried by one who was dead," Helena explained. "Their love will be yours."

Hermione, despite the headache, understood very clearly what this all meant, and the conversation she'd had with Helena this morning now making perfect sense. "Who carries Godric's soul?" she asked, terrified of the answer.

"The Headmistress."

Hermione's jaw dropped. Yes, she'd been right to be terrified.

* * *

Minerva looked up from her glass of brandy as the Gargoyles announced Professor Granger's arrival in her office. It had been a week since Helena's revalation about Hermione being host to Rowena's soul, just as she herself was host to Godric's. The newest Hogwarts' Professor had steadfastly avoided her in the last week, so it was a mix of relief and trepidation that filled Minerva as her eyes listed to meet Hermione's gaze.

"Hi," Hermione said softly.

"As you have been actively avoiding me, I gather you spoke with Helena," Minerva said, trying to start the conversation rather than have them both stand about awkwardly trying to figure out what to say first.

"Ah, yes," the younger woman replied. "I hadn't known that Godric and Rowena had been together. There's not much literature on the subject of the founders, outside of their roles in building Hogwarts."

"There are no written texts about their marriage," Minerva replied, nodding. "Sometimes it is best to keep a relationship hidden, especially when you work together."

Minerva watched Hermione, waiting for her to put the pieces together. After only a minute, she did. "You...and Albus?" the younger woman asked incredulously. "Were…"

"Married for nearly thirty-six years," Minerva finished.

"I never even suspected…" Hermione said in awe. "I'm so, so sorry, Minerva."

"For what?" the older woman asked crisply. "His death was his own doing."

"Still, he was your husband," the younger said sympathetically. "Would I be out of line to ask if you had children?"

"Not at all," Minerva replied, smiling a little bit. "We did not. You, the students I mean, were our children."

"I hope you don't think me a child any longer," Hermione said awkwardly, obviously thinking about their current...situation.

"Honesty Hermione, I'm not sure I ever did think of you that way," Minerva assured her. "Perhaps now we know why that may have been."

"Right…"

"What happens between us now is up to you," the Headmistress pressed on. "I will certainly not throw myself at you, and if you are involved with someone else, I'll not interfere. Godric and Rowena made arrangements for their souls to carry on, to be reincarnated sometime in the future, and while it was their desire to be together once more, we are each our own person, and the decision of if to pursue a romantic relationship is entirely ours."

"I think perhaps it would be good to get to know one another, outside of work, I mean," Hermione suggested. "Before making any solid decisions. I am not with anyone, but I had not intended on pursuing a relationship of any sort in the near future. I've only just split up with Ron…"

"Of course," Minerva agreed. "How about a weekly tea meeting to start?"

"Starting when?"

"Now if you like."

Hermione smiled. "Works for me."

* * *

It had been two months worth of weekly tea dates with Minerva, and Hermione was astounded at how drawn she was to the older witch. She always had been, if she really thought about it. When the Sorting Hat had suggested she go to Ravenclaw, she'd protested and asked for Gryffindor, simply having a hunch she would be best suited there. Now though, things were different. Her spending time with the Hogwarts' Headmistress was no longer inappropriate. In fact, Minerva had indicated that it was quite welcome.

They had talked about a good many things over the last eight weeks. They had both admitted to having relations with woman before. Both chose Transfiguration as a profession, though both were equally passionate about Charms. Hermione also enjoyed Potions, while Minerva preferred Defense. The seemed to enjoy the same types of food, though Hermione favored wine and Minerva never when and night without a glass of brandy. From what Hermione could tell, she and Minerva were perfectly suited to each other, but she just couldn't shake the feeling of the whole notion being forced on them by a witch and wizard who had been dead for several hundred years.

In the last two months, on top of getting to know Minerva on a personal level, Hermione had been subject to an onslaught of Rowena Ravenclaw's memories. She'd been to speak with Helena several times, trying to really understand what had happened between her parents to drive them to what could easily be considered dark magics, intent on preserving their souls to live on in the future. Helena said that they had hoped to meet and love one another without the stress of war and building Hogwarts, and more notably, without Salazar Slytherin in the picture.

Turns out that the big issue which caused the rise in tension between Slytherin and the other three founders had been that Godric had not been the only one to issue advances on Rowena. Helga, a lesbian, had also expressed interest, though when Rowena chose to marry Godric, she'd gracefully stepped back. Salazar, deeply obsessed with Rowena, had not been anything even remotely resembling a gentleman when the founder of Ravenclaw House had turned him down. On top of his never ending advances, regardless of her marriage to Godric, Salazar had threatened to bind Rowena's soul to his own, so that in the next life, she'd have no choice but to be his. In response, Godric and Rowena had beaten him to the punch, as it were, binding their own souls to each other, which prevented him from carrying out his threat. One soul could not be bound to two different people.

"Good afternoon, Hermione," Minerva said cheerfully as the younger woman entered her office. "How was your week?"

"Well, with the amount of headache potions I've had to acquire from Poppy, I think she's starting to wonder if I have a brain tumor," Hermione laughed a little "Not sure how to explain to her about Rowena's memories without actually telling her anything." She and Minerva had agreed from the start not to share with anyone that they carried Rowena and Godric's respective souls. If it went public, they would both likely be detained by the Unspeakables.

"Perhaps you could tell her that you've recently had a memory charm reversed," Minerva suggested. "That would very nearly be the truth, and she may be able to give you a better potion for ease the pain, knowing that the issue is related to the reintegration of memories."

"Good idea," the younger witch mused. "I think I'll speak with her right away."

"Tea and talking first, Hermione," Minerva ordered. "As I know for a fact that she is away from the school for another two hours."

Hermione nodded. "Very well. So, what's the topic of the evening then?"

* * *

**So...worth continuing? Please review! **


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